Improvement in hemmers for sewing-machines



PATENT OFFICE.

AsA r. ooLBY, or BATH, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEMMERSFOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,604, dated August 1, 1871.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ASA F. COLBY, of Bath, in the county of Sagadahoc and State of Maine, have invented an Improved Hemmer; and I "1declare the followin g to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specication, in which- Figure lis a plan; Fig. 2, a side elevation; and Fig. 3, a perspective view, the adjusting plates having been removed.

Similar letters of reference in the drawing indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide for public use an improved hemmer attachment for sewing-machines; and to this end my invention consists in the construction hereinafter set forth, whereby the hemmer is rendered convenient of operation and readily adjustable to produce hems or different widths.

In the drawing, A represents a vertical supporting-plate bent to a shoulder at b and provided with an arm, A', the lower extremity .of which is parallel to the lower end of the part A. cis a slot, through which can be passed a screw for fastening the part A to the head ofthe machine. a a are oblong slots in the parts A A, arranged so as to be parallel to each other in the same horizontal plane. e e are two similar slots directly beneath the the slots a a', and arranged in the same manner. d is a small guardplate or facing, of some anti-corrosive material, attached to the front side of the part A at its lower end for the cloth to wear against; and M is the folding-plate, made in the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and attached by an arm, m, at its inner end to therlower corner of the part A, so

that it shall lie in a horizontal plane, with its rear edge in line with the front face of the plate A. In connection with the parts thus constructed I employ a iiat steel plate, I, about nine inches `long, bent at the middle so that its ends are or head, h, as shown in Figs. l and 2. The parts I N are adapted to be secured in the slots a a e e', as shown in Fig. 2, and to be connected together by means of a thumb-screw, s. The arm A is pro-r vided with a clamping-screw, fv, by which the plate I can be fastened in any position in the slots a a', as will be clearly understood by reference to the drawing. The plates are all smoothed and highly polished and their ends and edges rounded and polished to enable the cloth to be readily inserted, fed to the needle, and removed, as occasion requires.-

The device having been thus constructed, its application and operation are as follows: For turning a very narrow hem the plates I N are removed and the apparatus Ileft in the condition shown in Fig. 3. The standardA being then attached to the head of the machine in proper relation to the direction of the feed-movement of the machine, the hem can be readily turned, as will be understood without further description, but if a wider hem is to be turned the parts I N are to be attached. To this end the plate N is first introduced into the slots e e, and afterward the upper arm of the plate I is inserted into the slots a a and pushed in until the screw-holes in the end of the plates come in the same vertical line, when they are connected by the screw s, and

afterward are incapable of moving independently Witnesses W. M. HITCHCOCK, W. D. MUssENDEN. 

